


Nightmares

by pinecovewoods



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: F/M, idk i wrote this in like two hours, kinda like a ptsd type thing??, poor boy suffers from nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-09-12 05:40:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16867156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinecovewoods/pseuds/pinecovewoods
Summary: It's early in the morning when she hears the door open, nowhere near the time the morning bell rings. Groggily, through sleep-filled eyes, she watches the boy shut the door behind him, his cap and half a cigar in his hand as he does.





	Nightmares

It's early in the morning when she hears the door open, nowhere near the time the morning bell rings. Groggily, through sleep-filled eyes, she watches the boy shut the door behind him, his cap and half a cigar in his hand as he does.

"Race?" She asks quietly, pulling the boys attention to her.

"Hey, Y/N, sorry," he says, walking towards her, "I was tryin' not to wake you's."

She frowns a bit, this isn't the first time she's seen the boy come in at all hours.

"S'okay, what's goin' on?"

He kneels next to the cot, placing the hat and his cigar on the post next to it.

"Nothin' just needed a smoke an' a bit'a air that's all," he smiles, "mind if I bunk with you's tonight? Al's taken over all the space in our cot 'n usually I'd sleep outside bu-"

"Course," she cuts him off, shifting over a bit to make room for the boy.

He slides in next to her easily, this also not being the first time they've shared a bed for the night or longer. She watches as his gaze settles on the ceiling, furrowing her eyebrows in worry.

"Is everything okay?" She asks quietly.

His eyes shift to hers, a smile appearing on his face.

"Yeah, 's fine, 'm fine" he replies, "go back to sleep, mornin' bell will be ringing anytime soon."

Despite her uncertainty, the girl does as he says, eyes slipping closed and sleep taking over all too quickly.

"How'd Racer end up in your bed las' night Y/N?" Albert asks the next morning in line, a smirk evident in the tone.

"You's took up all the room he had ya big oaf," she teases back, rolling her eyes as she places the quarter on Wiesel's tin box.

"Not my fault he kept tossin' and turnin' all night, I needs my beauty sleep."

His words cause the other boys to laugh, but only made the girl worry about her friend even more.

"Newsies! We got papes to sell and the day ain't gettin' any younger!" Jack calls over the murmur of the others, causing the kids to scatter in various directions to get selling.

After a brutal summer day out selling, the group returns to the Lodge for some well deserved and appreciated sleep. Y/N pulls her hair off her neck, settling into her cot as Race again kneels next to her.

"Mind if I crash with you's again?" He asks. "Albert talks in his sleep when it's hot out."

The girl nods, swallowing back the butterflies in her stomach as Race once again slips into the bed beside her, curly hair free of the news boy cap.

"How'd you's do sellin' today?" He asks in a whisper, laying on his back as his eyes once again fixed on the ceiling.

"Sold all fifty," she replies, rolling to her side to look at him, "you?"

"The same," he says, arm under his his head, "thanks for lettin' me stay."

"Of course, Race," Y/N says, eyes darting over his features, "sleep well."

He hums in response, eyes closing. The girl does the same, falling quickly to sleep with her best friend by her side.

She awakes once again too early in the morning, but this time to a voice instead of the door shutting. At first she assumes it's Albert, given what Race said previously, until she realizes that the sound is coming from somewhere too close to be Albert, who resides on the other side of the floor of the Lodge. She attributes the noise to another boy, probably one of the younger ones. That is, until she recognizes the whimpers to be none other than his.

Her eyes finally open fully, gaze snapping to the side of Race's face contorted in discomfort as a cry escapes his slightly parted lips every now and then. Suddenly, the boy curls into himself, the mewls coming out more frequently. The girl places a soft hand on his shoulder, eye widening as she feels how badly he's shaking under her fingers.

She's frozen, not sure how to react to the situation. She hears him mutter the word no over and over in his sleep, and once he cries out stop! she knows she has to wake him up.

She shakes him as gently as she can, running her fingers through his hair in an attempt to wake him up. 

"Race, hey," she whispers, "hey, Race, s'okay, c'mon."

His eyes shoot open, darting around the room as his breathing picks up. Y/N continues to push his hair back with her hands, a comforting gesture, and one that helps calm the boy down.

"S'okay," she repeats, "you was just dreamin', you're okay."

His breathing slows as his gaze settles on her face.

"Did I wake you?" he asks after a few moments, "'m sorry."

"Shh," she shakes her head, "don't be sorry, everythin's okay."

"Shoulda slept outside," he says, wiping his face with the back of his hand, "they's get worse in the summer time."

"Don't say things like that," she replies, squeezing his hand, "this ain't nothin' we can't deal with, okay?"

"Go back to sleep," he says, pushing her hair behind her ear, "we's all need our strength for sellin'."

"You'll be okay?" 

The boy nods, head once again resting on his arm as he stares at the ceiling. 

When Y/N wakes to the morning bell ringing and sees Race laying in the same position she last saw him, eyes open and staring, she doesn't bring it up. She figures that if he wanted to talk about it he would tell her, and she doesn't want to pry. Besides, he seems fine, full of energy like always as he bounces down the stairs with the rest of the boys. 

The incident is all but forgotten between the Delancy's giving her a hard time - literally because she's a girl - and the hot sun baking her and the others to crisp once again. 

She doesn't question him as Race places himself onto the mattress next to her that night, and she doesn't question him as he once again drills holes into the ceiling with his eyes. She stares at him for what feels like hours, watching as he blinks every so often. Once the moon's light reaches through the window, she decides that enough is enough. Sleepily, she reaches her arm out and pulls herself into his side, eyes shut to emulate her sleeping. She feels his gaze shift from the ceiling to her, and then his arm snake itself around her torso, and she finally drifts to sleep.

And then it happens again, she hears the whimpers coming from him as her eyes open. She looks over at him, they had somehow gotten separated during the night, and her heart breaks at the pain evident on his face. She doesn't wake him, not this time, instead she moves herself once again into his side, the boys face immediately relaxing at her touch. He wraps his arms around her again, pulling her close to him as his cries decrease. She closes her eyes again, feeling Race's heartbeat slow down.

"They won't stop, Y/N."

The girl looks up at him, his eyes cloudy and watery and his curls stuck to his forehead. She cups his cheek with her hand, rubbing her thumb over his skin.

"How long 'as this been goin' on?" She whispers.

"Since I's got here," he answers, "jus' bad memories, ya know, but I thought as I aged they's be goin' away. I can't sleep for'a full night...always says it's them sirens but it ain't."

"Tell me what I can do to help," she says.

"Jus'...jus' be here," he admits, "I don't wanna be alone anymore. They's get worse when I's alone."

The girl settles her head on his chest, allowing the boy to mold his body to hers on the bed.

"You's not gonna be alone anymore, Race," she whispers, "never again."

He hesitates at first, but then brushes his lips across her forehead, holding his breath as he waits for her reaction. She looks up at him, his blue eyes blazing under the moon light. 

"I think I likes you, Y/N," he whispers, silently praying that none of the other boys are awake.

"You think?" A teasing smile spreads across her face.

"I know," he explains, swallowing a bit, "is that okay?"

"More than okay," she smiles, a genuine smile, and presses a kiss to his lips.

He kisses her back, and this time he doesn't see flashes of his old life when his eyes are closed. Instead, all he sees is every memory he has of her; her smile, her laugh, everything that makes her her.

He pulls away after a few moments, smile on his face that she can only compare to that of the sun.

"Thank you for helpin' me," he whispers, "never had that before."

She hums a response, hand caressing his cheek gently.

"If it ain't obvious, I like you too," she says, smiling a bit.

"We's should probably get some sleep," he says, "just kick me out if I's get too bad."

"That ain't gonna happen," Y/N replies.

True enough, she sticks to her word, never once asking the boy to move out of the bed. They fall asleep the same way every night, Race's arms around her torso and her head secure on his chest. 

"You's cut down on smoking," she notices a few weeks later, "you usually go through at least three cigars a day, and you's had that one for almost two days."

"Used 't smoke to get my mind offa the dreams," he replies, "not havin' as many of those anymore, don't need that many smokes a day anymore."

He still struggles - there are days when her presence isn't enough and he has to lie awake until the morning bell rings- but even still, the dark circles under his eyes have lessened and his energy has gone up more than one would have thought possible. 

He catches her at lunch one afternoon, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as he goes to sit next to her.

"What was that for?"

"For everythin'," he says, "haven't felt this well rested in years, and it's'all thanks to you's."

She kisses him lightly on the lips, a chorus of groans and protests rising from the boys surrounding them.

"Shuddup shuddup," Race calls, waving them off as he slips an arm around her shoulders.

Jack sits down next to Y/N, smiling as he watches Race joke around with the others.

"No more nightmares?" He asks.

She looks up at Race, his curly hair sticking up from under his hat and his eyes bright and full of life, and she smiles.

"No more nightmares."


End file.
